A major breakthrough by researchers at New Energy Technologies could soon see the unveiling of a working prototype of the first ever glass window capable of generating electricity.

Until now, solar panels have remained opaque, with the prospect of creating a see-thru glass window capable of generating electricity limited by the use of metals and various expensive processes which block visibility and prevent light from passing through glass surfaces.

New Energy´s ability to generate electricity on see-thru glass is made possible by making use of the world´s smallest working organic solar cells, developed by Dr. Xiaomei Jiang at the University of South Florida.

Unlike conventional solar systems, New Energy´s solar cells generate electricity from both natural and artificial light sources, outperforming today´s commercial solar and thin-film technologies by as much as 10-fold.

New Energy´s SolarWindow technology is under development for potential application in the estimated 5 million commercial buildings in America (Energy Information Administration) and more than 80 million single detached homes.

"We very much look forward to the commercial development of New Energy´s SolarWindow technology, which, if successful, could literally transform the way in which we view the use of solar energy for our homes, offices, and commercial buildings," Said Valerie McDevitt, Assistant Vice President for Research at University of South Florida.

The University of South Florida Research Foundation has licensed Dr. Xiaomei Jiang´s groundbreaking discovery and important commercial processes and applications to New Energy Solar Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of New Energy Technologies, Inc.

Mr. Meetesh V. Patel, President and CEO of New Energy Technologies explained, "For the first time ever, these advances have allowed us to develop an early-scale working prototype of the technology, which I very much look forward to unveiling in the upcoming weeks."

In recent months, numerous technical milestones have been surpassed by researchers developing New Energy´s see-thru SolarWindow coatings, including:
 

1. The use of the world´s smallest functional solar cells, measuring less than ¼ the size of a grain of rice, and shown to successfully produce electricity in a published peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy of the American Institute of Physics. Importantly, these cells generate electricity from both natural and artificial light sources, outperforming today´s commercial solar and thin-film technologies by as much as 10-fold;
2. Development of a novel, patent-pending process to spray SolarWindow™ coatings onto see-thru glass using commercially available technologies (presented in AZoNano´s Journal of Nanotechnology Online; Dec. 20, 2009, "Nanotechnology Thought Leaders" series); and
3. The ability to spray SolarWindow™ coatings onto glass at room temperature, eliminating expensive high-temperature or high-vacuum production methods commonly used by current solar manufacturers

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09.08.2010, University of South Florida / New Energy Technologies, Inc

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